NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK TECHNICAL REPORT 01-06 TERRESTRIAL VEGETATION MONITORING CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK 1996–2000 REPORT Lauren Johnson & Dirk Rodriguez Channel Islands National Park 1901 Spinnaker Dr. Ventura, CA 93001 Voice 805-658-5751 Fax 805-658-5798 E-mail [email protected] SEPTEMBER 2001 Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring 1996-2000 Report ABSTRACT Channel Islands National Park began a long-term plant community monitoring program on Anacapa, Santa Barbara, and San Miguel Islands in 1984. Monitoring on Santa Rosa Island began in 1990 and on East Santa Cruz Island in 1998. Species present at each of 100 points along 163, 30-m permanent transects, are recorded annually. The number of transects on each island is determined by the island’s size and the diversity of its vegetation. Anacapa Island has 16 transects, Santa Barbara Island has 24, San Miguel Island has 16, Santa Rosa Island has 86, and East Santa Cruz Island currently has 21. This report presents the data, summarized by transect, that were collected on all five islands from 1984 - 2000. Although data from 1984 to 1995 were previously presented in Technical Report 98-08, inclusion of those data in this report presents a more complete picture for comparative purposes. For analysis of vegetation trends, the transect data should be aggregated by community types. Relative frequency of natives vs. exotics, perennials vs. annuals, and comparison of graminoids, herbs, sub-shrubs, shrubs, and trees can be derived from the data. This report supplements Technical Report 98-08, Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring, Channel Islands National Park, 1984-1995 Report. No analysis is presented in this annual report, however an analysis of the vegetation data is underway and will be presented in an upcoming Trend Report. In addition, a review of the overall vegetation monitoring program was conducted in December 2000. The recommendations from that review are summarized in this report. A more complete overview of that review will also be forthcoming. Channel Islands National Park, Tech. Rep. 01-06 iii Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring 1996-2000 Report CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... III INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 VEGETATION MONITORING METHODS................................................................1 Study Area _________________________________________________________________________ 1 History ____________________________________________________________________________ 2 Community Descriptions ______________________________________________________________ 8 Santa Barbara Island________________________________________________________________________8 Anacapa Island ____________________________________________________________________________9 San Miguel Island __________________________________________________________________________9 Santa Rosa Island __________________________________________________________________________9 East end of Santa Cruz Island________________________________________________________________11 Sources of Errors ___________________________________________________________________ 13 Taxonomic Questions________________________________________________________________ 14 Departures from Protocols ____________________________________________________________ 15 Santa Barbara Island_______________________________________________________________________15 Anacapa Island ___________________________________________________________________________16 San Miguel Island _________________________________________________________________________16 Santa Rosa Island _________________________________________________________________________16 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...............................................................................19 Protocol Review ____________________________________________________________________ 20 CITED REFERENCES...........................................................................................22 APPENDIXES.......................................................................................................23 APPENDIX A........................................................................................................25 Monitoring Dates and Primary Personnel __________________________________________________________25 Santa Barbara Island ________________________________________________________________ 25 Anacapa Island_____________________________________________________________________ 25 San Miguel Island___________________________________________________________________ 25 Santa Rosa Island __________________________________________________________________ 26 East end ofSanta Cruz Island__________________________________________________________ 26 Personnel Affiliations and Period of Involvement _____________________________________________________27 APPENDIX B........................................................................................................28 Park-wide Changes _________________________________________________________________ 28 Santa Barbara Island ________________________________________________________________ 28 Anacapa Island_____________________________________________________________________ 28 San Miguel Island___________________________________________________________________ 29 Santa Rosa Island __________________________________________________________________ 29 Channel Islands National Park, Tech. Rep. 01-06 v Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring 1996-2000 Report APPENDIX C........................................................................................................33 APPENDIX D........................................................................................................35 APPENDIX E........................................................................................................37 APPENDIX F ........................................................................................................39 APPENDIX G........................................................................................................42 APPENDIX H........................................................................................................45 Channel Islands National Park, Tech. Rep. 01-06 vi Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring 1996-2000 Report LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Communities monitored on each island and the transects that represent them………………..3 Table 2 Santa Rosa Island transects and their repositioning each year from 1990-2000.....................16 Table 3 Average number of hits per year for transects read on SBI, AI, SRI, and SCI ........................19 Table 4 Precipitation on Santa Cruz Island and Oxnard, CA, 1983 - 2000 (June-July) ........................19 Channel Islands National Park, Tech. Rep. 01-06 vii Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring 1996-2000 Report LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Channel Islands National Park, California. The Park includes San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and Santa Barbara Islands.................................................................................................4 Figure 2 Transect locations on Santa Barbara Island.................................................................................5 Figure 3 Transect locations on East Anacapa Island (top) and West and Middle Anacapa Island (bottom) ..........................................................................................................................................................6 Figure 4 Transect locations on San Miguel Island......................................................................................7 Figure 5 Transect locations on Santa Rosa Island .....................................................................................7 Figure 6 Transect locations on the east end of Santa Cruz Island .………………………………………8 Channel Islands National Park, Tech. Rep. 01-06 ix Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring 1996-2000 Report 1996 through 2000 as well as sampling INTRODUCTION dates and personnel, any deviations in methods and locations, questions or Channel Islands National Park was difficulties that should be resolved prior to created in 1980, from what had been more sampling, and suggested Channel Islands National Monument. The modifications to the sampling protocol. Park’s enabling legislation (PL 96-199) Data are to be analyzed periodically to required that the Park develop a study of determine vegetation and trend; the the natural resources including 1) an results of analyses are then to be inventory of all species in the Park presented in trend reports. including population dynamics, 2) an Expanded riparian and woody species assessment of present conditions and data collection was incorporated into the probable future trends of populations, and vegetation monitoring program for the east 3) recommendations as to what actions end of SCI and SRI in 1998. This will be should be considered for adoption to expanded to all the islands in 2001. better protect the natural resources of the These data are not reported here, Park. however. Beginning with the 2001 data, The Park used this legislation as an annual reports will present each year’s opportunity to develop a model system for data individually. monitoring natural resources in national parks (Davis and Halvorson, 1988). It also recognized that restoration and protection VEGETATION